Anthrax is endemic and enzootic in Georgia with cases being registered since 1881 with over 2000 foci identified. Since 2005, 439 laboratory confirmed and 211 probable human cases and 190 laboratory confirmed animal cases have been registered. A case-control study performed in 2012 by the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC), National Food Agency (NFA) and the Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP) found the main transition routes for human cases are slaughtering diseased animals and handling raw meat without protective equipment.
One Health
Zoonotic diseases compose a large proportion of the disease burden faced by African countries (e.g. Ebola). A One Health approach to disease control has been embraced across the continent, yet public health and veterinary surveillance systems in most countries remained vertically isolated under separate Ministries. Data exchange, if it occurs, is ad hoc and informal.
Accurate and timely reporting of animal rabies test results and potential human exposures is necessary to guide case management and define rabies epidemiology. Accordingly, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) collaborated with Kansas State University Rabies Laboratory (KSU-RL) in 2011 to establish electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) of animal rabies test results to Nebraska's Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS). If a potential human rabies exposure is verified, NDHHS authorizes state-paid rabies testing through a contractual agreement with KSU-RL.
In 2014, a dengue outbreak affected northern Mexico and travel-associated dengue cases increased in southern Arizona. While Arizona has not detected a local dengue case, local transmission occurred in Nogales, Sonora, sister city of Nogales, Arizona across the border. The detection of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, a dengue and chikungunya vector, and the frequent human movement across the border with Sonora heightens Arizona’s risk for introducing emerging mosquito-borne diseases. Limited data exists on the extent or seasonality of Aedes mosquitoes in Arizona border counties.
From December 2014 to February 2015, Maricopa County, Arizona was the host site for several high profile events, including Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. Public health officials were allocated with implementing numerous enhanced surveillance activities to quickly identify health risks to the public. These included laboratory-based surveillance, mortality surveillance, and syndromic surveillance at select hospitals, urgent cares, hotels, and on-site at the events.
Vector borne diseases like Japanese Encephalitis (JE) result from the convergence of multiple factors, including, but not limited to, human, animal, environmental, and economic and social determinants. Thus, to combat these problems, it is essential to have a systematic understanding of drivers and determinants based on a surveillance system that systematically gathers and analyzes data emanating from across multiple disciplines.
Pakistan being a subtropical region is highly susceptible to water-borne, air-borne and vector-borne infectious diseases (IDs). Each year, millions of its people are exposed to, and infected with, deadly pathogens including hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria, and now-a-days dengue fever (DF). Monitoring and response management to natural or man-made IDs is non-existent in the country due to lack of robust infrastructure for health surveillance. DF outbreaks in 2005-2011 alone resulted in more than 50,000 infections and about 1500 people lost their lives.
The past decade has seen the rise of many new diseases, and the re-emergence of others which were thought to have been brought under control. This is the combined result of the expansion of global trade and travel, the increases in populations of both humans and animals, and environmental changes. As a result, there should be an effective collaboration among different institutions in each country, and close international cooperation with different stakeholders. The MBDS (Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance) cooperation is a self-organized sub-regional network commenced in 2001.
Rwanda government's leadership in embracing One health approach to mitigate and control infectious diseases can be a huge lesson to other developing countries to do the same with astounding results.
During 2011, dengue fever emerged as a serious public health problem in Punjab, Pakistan. This crisis highlighted gaping holes in the health system. It was realized that the present system is unlikely to have the capacity in responding to an emergency of this magnitude. Since 1994, the cases of dengue fever are being frequently reported in different regions of Pakistan. However, this deadly attack of dengue virus exposed the government’s weaknesses in handling emergencies.